News

EUROPE

The "b-solutions” initiative is one of the actions supported by DG REGIO within the framework of the Communication “Boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions” of September 2017. Its aim is to identify and promote sustainable methods for overcoming legal and/or administrative obstacles encountered along the internal land borders of the European Union.

MOT

On the occasion of the European Conference on the Energy Transition, which is taking place in Dunkirk on 22-24 January 2019, the MOT is publishing a new edition of its thematic Guides, on the energy transition and cross-border cooperation.

NATIONAL LEVEL

On the 22nd of January 2019 the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel MACRON, and the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Angela MERKEL, signed a new Franco-German treaty of cooperation and integration. A whole chapter is dedicated to cross-border cooperation.

EUROPE

In adopting its opinion on the proposal for a regulation on the ECBM on 22 November 2018, the European Parliament’s Regional Development Commission (REGI) embarked on the process of inter-institutional negotiations on the proposed tool.

TERRITORIES

Under the Interreg programme ALCOTRA on the Franco-Italian border, two types of plan can be implemented: integrated territorial plans and integrated thematic plans. Integrated territorial plans are made up of a series of projects organised around several themes for a specific cross-border territory.

FRANCE

The University of Lorraine is offering an online course [in French] entitled “Beyond borders, assessing territories”, which will start at the end of February 2019. It is providing an introduction to territorial assessment, and will look at several examples of cross-border areas.

NATIONAL LEVEL

On 11 December 2018 in Brussels, a declaration of intent regarding the development of closer cooperation between France and the countries of the Benelux Union (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) was signed.

FRANCE

The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs has launched a call for projects aimed at funding decentralised cooperation projects supported by French local authorities in partnership with foreign local authorities.

TERRITORIES

A seminar on the fair distribution of taxes and social security contributions in cross-border areas was held on 25 October in Geneva by the FEDRE Foundation and the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.

MOT

On 29 May 2018, the European Commission published five proposals concerning the future 2021-2027 cohesion policy, of which two directly concern cross-border matters: the European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) Regulation and a new Regulation creating a “mechanism to resolve legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context” (ECBM).

TERRITORIES

At once a Caribbean island, an overseas collectivity of the French Republic and an Outermost Region (OR) of the European Union, the Collectivity of Saint Martin has resolutely placed regional integration at the heart of its development strategy.

TERRITORIES

The characteristics, both geographic and political, of our territory justify the necessity for strengthened cooperation. The Collectivity of Saint Martin’s ambition is that, through strengthened regional cooperation, our territories become examples in the sectors where they possess “added value”, in developing, for example, infrastructure, Research and Development (R&D) notably in terms of the circular economy, the blue economy, sustainable agriculture, renewable energies, digital technologies, and earthquake-resistant and hurricane-resistant materials...

EUROPE

The European Entrepreneurial Region Award rewards EU regions showing excellence and innovation in strategy on entrepreneurial policy. It is open “to all EU territories of Member States, including communities and city's as well as cross-border territories with legal personality such as EGTCs and Euroregions”.

PUBLICATION

Following the Communication “Boosting growth and cohesion in EU border regions”, DG REGIO launched a pilot project focusing on the collection and availability of data necessary for studying cross-border territories. The study, carried out by eight national statistical institutes, including the French INSEE, has just been published. It focuses on indicators for analysis of the labour market. The results are promising and invite further research.

TERRITORIES

The members of the Working Community of the Pyrenees have formalised an innovative new instrument for cross-border cooperation and development, named “Pyrenean Strategy”. Its priorities include the preservation of the Pyrenees’ biodiversity, the adaptation of territories to global warming, combating desertification, and access to mobility.

TERRITORIES

The Assembly of French Departments (ADF) has published an atlas of departments’ European and international cooperation actions. It notably details the collaborations pertaining to cross-border cooperation. The publication was realised in partnership with the Delegation for External Action of Territorial Authorities of the French Ministry for Europe and International Affairs, and the Banque des Territoires.

FRANCE

The CGET and the “Régions de France” association held, with the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regional Council, a national seminar on European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), on 4 December in Besançon. It brought together around a hundred participants and enabled clarification of the stakes of the negotiation, while reaffirming a strong French ambition, shared by both the French State and the Regions.

MOT

On 21 November 2018, the MOT network gathered for a day of discussions in Paris on the premises of the CGET. The steering committee and the board were presided over by the new president of the MOT, Robert Herrmann, president of the Strasbourg Eurométropole.